Duskbound

by Bree Grenwich

This realm is dying, and you’re the single fucking thing that has the ability to save it.”

Slowly, it bowed its head before me, its enormous form lowering to acknowledge me in some way I couldn’t begin to comprehend. “Tryggar has just claimed you.”

“Essence runs through her, but it’s not a tether,” he finally said. “There is nothing tying her to the land. The essence within her is… self-sustaining…”

"It's not about proving them wrong, you know. It's about proving to yourself that you're worthy. That you always were."

"It's not about surviving." The words cut through the darkness like a blade, sharp and familiar. Aether's voice. "It's about choosing to keep fighting even when everything inside you wants to give in."

"So you tell the Council. You tell them that what Valkan did was an act of war. You tell them that he captured and fed from the heir to the throne of Umbrathia."

"Everything you've done since you've been in Umbrathia has been selfless. I've never wanted to know someone so much."

"I already told you." His voice was low, dangerous. "I'm with you. Always."

"I felt nothing for decades." His voice was rough. "Existed, but barely lived. Hiding from no one other than myself, but hiding all the same. And then you showed up. And now..." His voice trailed off, pain crossing his face as he tried to collect himself. A dark familiarity tugged at me. "I've tried to go back to that place. But I can't find my way there. I'm not sure it even exists anymore. Not since you showed up and destroyed every wall I'd built."

"All of those decades spent here, all of the sleepless nights searching for any kind of meaning to my existence—it was so that I could find you."

"I give myself to you," he said, voice deadly calm. "My life, my shadows, my loyalty—they belong to you now. Not because you're the heir to this realm, but because you're the only thing I've ever wanted to believe in."